InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Good Twin, Evil Twin ❯ Chapter Ten ( Chapter 10 )

Chapter Ten

Kev and Kano did not sit through the end-credits of “The Decadent Return of the Spider Queen And Her Panty-Sniffing Scourge.” Just the title of that late-night b-movie foresaw cheesy effects and terrible acting. And the stereotypical plot-contrivances large enough to drive a truck through. But it was, always, a great deal of fun and a very pleasant way to pass two hours. Very pleasant compared to their jobs and the things they saw in their jobs.

Walking through the crowds assembling about the front of the theater, Kev offered to buy Kano something to eat - popcorn, candy - while they walked home but he refused.

Come to think of it, he noted, Kano ate very little at all.

“You're a little too thin to be on a diet, you know,” he teased tapping the back of his friend's shoulder as they stepped out of the building into the street.

It was night yet the city was as thick as ever with crowds. It was cold, too, and the people with their coats made formidable obstacles along the way. But Kev's mind was not focused upon the streets and Kano's thoughts were elsewhere altogether - and had been since the movie finished. He was nervous, edgy and that bothered Kev because he had never, ever, seen his friend act like that.

“You are all right, aren't you?” Kano nodded. “No, you're not.” Again he held onto Kano's shoulder and his touch did not waver. “I know you too well. Something bothers you - I know it - I just hope it wasn't that movie.”

“It was an OK movie,” he smiled. A genuine smile. And squeezed onto the hand that clutched his shoulder. “I always like it when I'm with you, Kevin-san.”

Through the bleakness of the night it would have been impossible to see the man blush. “Well, I always like to be with you, too. Outside of that office, away from that job, I only ever really live when I'm with you.” Now it was Kano's turn to blush. He made a hesitant, tentative sound if he were about to speak but Kev interrupted mid-syllable: “That's the way it's been since I've come to Japan - and met you.”

“I hope that'll always be that way.”

“You sound like that'll change, Kano.”

Oblivious to being surrounded by a mob - or - despite being surrounded by all of the people they felt as though they were alone, anonymous, and their intimate contact lingered as if they were unafraid to be exposed.

“I've been, difficult, haven't I? Kevin-san, after all of these years, why haven't you left? There must have been others who caught your eye. Maybe. They would've been easier to get along with than me.”

“Stop that,” he whispered, stopping and turning to face Kano. They stood before a supermarket whose doors had been shut hours ago. By then, by that time, the number of people walking about that part of the city was dwindling. “Is that what bothers you? Kano.” He tried to hold his friend's hands but just caught the cuffs of his sleeves instead.

Kano navel-gazed, it seemed, embarrassed to see him face to face.

“Look at me with those eyes of yours,” he stammered through that heavy, American accent. Kano angled his face up but the shadows of the night cast his visage in the darkness of oblivion.

“It's important that I trust you. Everything depends upon it.”

Kevin squeezed his friend's wrists through his cuffs and let his grip slip until they touched skin to skin.

“Who was it? Hm? Who was it that gave you such a high opinion of man?”

“It's not like that, it's different.”

Kano squeezed Kev's hands; his nails were sharp but their prickling did not bother the man.

They walked together, ambling randomly through the streets just to be together.

At a corner they stopped to wait for the light to change. Kano adjusted Kev's collar. Despite their angst they shared a deep love and respect for one another that revealed itself through such, subtle intimacies.

“I'm different, Kevin-san.”

They crossed from one corner to another; Kevin put an arm around his friend's shoulder, ruffling his hair.

The area of Tokyo through which they trekked consisted of a large park surrounded by small buildings. The buildings were vacant, dead, except for a few, dim lights near their roofs. The park was full - but not crowded - with very oddly-dressed people. People with multi-colored hair, Mohawk-shaped spikes, or just plain bald. They wore leather, chains, tattered jeans and rough shirts to match their tough appearances.

But they did not rush through the scene; they kept their pace slow and steady for their eyes were not fixed upon the world in which they trekked.

Kev was looking at the sidewalk, holding onto Kano's arm, when one of the youths stopped him. The intrusion was startling but his heart did not skip a beat. He was dumbstruck, wondering what were the man's intentions - stopping him like that - but as he blinked as he saw his face through the streetlights he laughed.

“Jako',” he said, extending his right hand from Kano to him - who, realizing it was the foreign gesture, mimicked it.

“Yeah, man, I saw you on the TV. You're going to be famous, huh.”

Something about the way his two-toned hair lapped about his shoulders, something about the stumps of ears poking through those strands inspired more than a bit of fear in Kano.

“God I hope not - I'd like to walk the streets without getting stopped all of the time.”

“I know what you mean,” he winked. He gave the detective's left arm a light punch. “Just be easy with me next time you arrest me, OK? Don't let your fame get to your head.”

Kev smiled cynically and Jako' chuckled deviously.

After a few, more words the man walked away into the night.

Kevin, amused, stopped and reminisced. “Jako' was the first guy I arrested back when I was just a cop. He's not a bad guy, for a criminal, I guess.” Kano smiled, laughed. “There, that's the sort of thing I like. That smile. That laugh. So, you're different, huh?” Kev spoke with a teasing lisp.

They reached another corner: Kevin wanted to go one way, his friend wanted to go another way and he submitted as if by instinct following his friend without protest.

“I'm a cop, you know, I notice. And I already know.”

“You - know,” Kano's heart skipped a beat. He wanted to keep it together but his gait slowed into a crawl.

“Of course I know. Didn't I tell you?” He whispered, slowly and carefully though in English: “Something so beautiful just can't be part of this word.”

Kano sighed and smiled, realizing the truth of what Kev said.

“You've been kind and understanding. More than I could have imagined. And I know this is what it's like to be in love. Really in love All of my life I've wanted someone to be with me. I've been alone in this world for so long. So long, Kevin-san. Longer than you can imagine.”

Kev bowed his head and nodded.

“But it's hard because, if you want to be with me there's so much I've got to tell you. And you won't understand it. You won't like it. You'll judge me, fear me.”

“Kano.”

They walked through streets unlit and lonely. It was as if they were oblivious of the danger into which they trekked. At least Kevin, whose eyes were fixed either to the ground or to his friend, did not see. Did not notice. Did not suspect. He trusted Kano implicitly and let himself be led by him blindly into whatever, wherever.

It was then that Kev bumped into another figure. It was a quick and dirty encounter and he could not tell too much about what the figure looked like. Except that he - the detective was sure it was a he - was dressed rather skimpy for autumn. To be sure, what he could have seen of the figure's outfit amounted to little more than wolf-like pelts and tanned leather parts of which could have been armor. But it was not the spikes or the chains that most of the punks used. And there was hair, too, long, black hair and he could have sworn there was something else about the figure that just was not altogether right.

He stopped and looked back at the figure - the man retreated rather fast into the jungle of the neighborhood.

“Was that a tail?” he asked, astounded. “In New York City, in Tokyo, at night people are the same the world-over.”

“You mean, freaks, don't you?” Kev looked at his friend and blinked unsure where that was coming from. Suddenly and very thoughtfully, he spoke like the narrators of old, samurai films delivering lines in that deadpan fashion: “Half this world's full of freaks, I guess.”

Kev would have smiled if it were not for the fact that Kano was not like that.

“Freaks? I don't see freaks. People are people, that's all, Kano.”

Kano looked at him for a moment, eyes revealing through its tears more than voice revealed through its words that he was happy Kevin said what he said.

“Kano. What is this place?” he asked at last aware of the strangeness of the environment. He thought he saw every part of Tokyo but he did not see every part of that city at night. And the character of that place certainly must have undergone a massive transformation once the sun was down and the moon was up. Too many buildings seemed to be abandoned, too many streetlights failed, too many traffic lights did not work. There were no cars - no motorcycles - driving through the streets. There was an eerie, otherworldly silence that clung onto the scenery like a fog. And everything, there the shadows of every alley, there the darkness of every corner, there stirred echoes of deep and secret mid-night designs that alarmed the cop's sense of dread and foreboding.

“Kevin-san, forgive me!”

With a blow that felt like a ton of bricks he tumbled onto the sidewalk and the world entire went blank for Detective Kevin Markus.

The universe restarted for Detective Kev through a series of impressions First, it was the air: it was humid and thick with a mixture of musk and incense. It was not unpleasant but the atmosphere had a clear and definite lack of oxygen that softened his mind and hardened his body. He could not think as fast as usual and he could not move about any better than normal. Tired and groggy, second, it was the feelings throughout his body. He was slumped against a chair; his head angled back, his arms and legs limp by the sides. As if he had been dropped like a sack onto the furniture. Third, it was the annoyances of the tiny, little bits of sawdust and debris that kept falling into his eyes in tune with the steady, drum-like beat of music that slowly and gradually took form and shape within his ears.

He yawned and sat up. Folding his arms over his chest he detailed what he saw of the world. He was inside a cell-like chamber. Its plaster walls were shiny with a fresh coat of yellow-orange paint. At least, it would have been fresh, were it not for the graffiti scrawled about it. The ceiling was similarly painted and `decorated.' The floor was carpeted by fur pelts and animal skins - beneath that rug, along the outermost, extreme edges it showed to be raw and unfinished hardwood.

There was light, too, but there was not a fixture visible; the source must have been behind and he could not see it without turning.

And that was not everything: there was his chair and before it two sofas by its left and right sides and beyond it one mat. It annoyed him that he did not notice it sooner. Seeing it he tensed. Realizing it he shuddered. He reached into his coat trying to find something but found nothing And he panicked being thus naked and helpless.

For upon the mat sat the figure of what seemed to be a man. Although what he saw of the face was so young and so soft it could have been a woman. The man wore a shirt and blue-jeans and was clad by a ripped, red jacket, the hood of which was wrapped about his arm where the flesh was wounded and bled. A baseball cap adorned his head, its brim leaving most of his features enshadowed. Shoulder-length, white hair also obscured his face.

But truly it was not just the abruptness with which he noticed the figure it was the way it sat: with its legs, its arms between its legs, it looked like a dog.

Again that was not everything - he leaned forward upset he was unarmed - as the figure was sporting a scabbard and a sword.

“Relax!” growled a voice as a hand, tight and firm, grasped his shoulder.

Kev felt the heat of the hand and wanted to turn around but froze and drew-back.

He angled his head and saw that against the left-wall was a door - and thought that, if he were strong he might bolt through it.

“What do you want?” ha asked. “Wait - wait - wait!” Now recalling where he was and what he was doing when last he was alert, true fear surged through his body: “Where's Kano?”

“Relax. Shippo is here.” Again that hand held tight. Unnaturally tight. “I took your weapon, detective, let's not make a mess, OK? Just, relax.”

“Kano!” He struggled against the first grip and the second grip that followed. “What have you done to Kano?”

“Relax!” The command was snarled through a voice that seemed to be more animal than human. “No one's done anything to Shippo.”

“Shippo?” He was bewildered: he was asking for Kano not for Shippo. “Who's Shippo? And what's all of this about?”

Through the struggle he failed to notice that the figure upon the map opened its eyes - its wide, amber eyes.

“Shippo! Damn it!” he shouted. The restraints switched from hands to arms. The arms, thick and muscular, clasped him onto the chair. “Inuyasha, didn't I say this would be a bad idea?” The arms were naked except along their elbows and shoulders where they were covered with wolf-like, furry pelts.

“Kevin-san, it's OK.” A right hand - a familiar hand - clutched his left hand and its warmth spread into body. He looked and the image of Kano Sozaburo came clearly and cleanly into view. “You must be calm, at peace. Please, Kevin-san, do it for me.”

“What's going in, what's happening?” He squeezed his friend's hand and it soothed him to know Kano was all right and safe. He relaxed - and the arms about his chest relaxed, too.

“We want to tell you things. It won't be easy for us to say it and it won't be easy for you to hear it.” He looked into Kev's eyes and with that communicated a resigned yet tormented angst that words alone could not convey. “Forgive me,” he whispered.

“Kano?” he half-asked, half-uttered. With that lack of oxygen his struggle left him left him breathless and exhausted. “What have you done?”

“We can't let just anyone into this world. We must be careful. Cautious. But I trust you, Kevin-san.” He knelt askew the chair and presented the gun to the detective.

Kev took it - and by its weight knew it was loaded. He looked into Kano's face for what was an endless, quiet moment. He did not realize that the arms of the figure behind him had been fully withdrawn. Only through degrees, very gradually, did the thought occur to him that he was not restrained.

“I trust you, but do you trust me?”

He placed his gun into his holster within his jacket.

“I trust you, Kano, I do.”

“I've got a lot of explaining to do.” He stood and stepped aside. “And you may not trust me after I've finished.”

“It will be explained,” said the gruff, animal voice. The figure moved from the back to the front and stood by Kevin's side. “The truth's a complicated thing, though, I wonder if you can handle it, detective.”

Kev did not blink but simply sat up and stared, bewildered. The worn leather, the wolf-pelt. The long, black hair, the tail. It was the man who bumped into him along the street. His bright, blue eyes were unusual for Asiatic men - but that was nothing compared to his long, pointed ears.

“What is this, Kano?” He tried but it was impossible not to be morbidly curious about the man's features.

“We're the freaks, detective,” the man answered. “We're also known as demons.”

“Demons?” Demons, boss? Kev laughed. “This - is - not entirely real.”

“This is real, Kevin-san. Demons are real, we exist. ”

Kevin stood face to face with the pelted-stranger.

“Demons are myth.”

Yet, even as he spoke it struck him that myths often were based upon facts.

“That's Koga, of the wolf demons,” Kano explained, noticing Kev's curiosity.

“Wolf demons? Like, a gang?” he asked, reaching out as if to touch Koga's ears.

“Now, now,” the man said, opening his mouth and revealing his fangs for the first time. “I'm OK with you two,” he said, pointing to Kev and Kano. “Love is love, right? But - er - those are for the ladies, OK?” He pointed at his ears and, with a laugh, folded his arms over his chest. There was something about his smugness that was almost endearing. “We're a gang of sorts. You're a human - worse, a cop - and that's how you think. Like real wolves, we're family and I'm the head of the family.”

“And this is your home, then, Koga?” Kevin asked.

“Yes,” Koga replied. “I don't like letting strangers inside. You understand, don't you?”

Kev nodded and approached Kano.

“We demons, we have to live with you humans. Most of us assimilated but some of us like to be demons,” he pointed those icy blue orbs at Kano. “And those of us who do, we stay in the shadows, blend into the woodwork with the rejects of your world.”

“To blend in.” Kev sighed. “And you come out at night when no one notices.”

“Yes, detective.” Again that laugh. “You get it. You might be brighter than you look.”

Kano took Kev's hand and squeezed it. The man looked at his friend - and smiled.

“You know me as Kano Sozaburo because that's the name I adopted. I've lived a long, long time - centuries.” Kevin blinked. “I've lived in the human world and I've gone through many different names and identities.”

“To blend in,” Kevin parroted himself.

Koga chuckled.

“Yes. To blend in.”

He put a hand on his friend's shoulder and squeezed, massaged the tense and twisted muscles through the clothing.

“I'm sorry. I don't mean to be making light of things. You've gone out of your way to - do - this and it's just that it's -”

“A lot? Too much? Huh, heh, actually -” Koga uncrossed his arms and sat along the right-most sofa “- you seem to be taking it well.”

“My real name's Shippo.”

“Shippo?”

Kevin let the hand on the shoulder wander to the neck - the cheek - the ear. He tried to imagine - if Kano was saying the truth and he was a demon - what his ear must have looked like and what must have been done to it.

Kano - Shippo - smiled and implored the man to sit upon the chair.

“Alright.” The detective - recalling his rational, cop-mode - restated the facts as he understood them. “Demons are real and I take it live a long time. Some blend into the world, some don't. But, what do you do, I mean, what -”

“It wasn't always like this,” Koga added and was interrupted by the entering of Ginta and Hakkaku.

“The dude's awake, huh?” Ginta asked, he slapped Kev's back playfully.

The man looked up at the newcomers: the men were as demon-like as Koga and dressed along the shades of that wolf-like `uniform' of leather and pelt though without tails.

“He hasn't, like, fainted?” asked Hakkaku.

“The detective's doing OK for a human,” Koga answered.

Hakkaku offered the detective a white carton. It was unopened yet a pair of chopsticks were stabbed into it. “Shippo told us you liked Ramen,” the demon explained with a tone that was very light and friendly, “but Inuyasha ate it all.”

Kevin shook his head into a sort-of nod. “Thank you,” he said and took the carton with the chopsticks. He kept his eyes fixed upon the pair - and those ears.

The two smiled and sat behind Koga.

He opened the carton - within it was white, Chinese-style rice. Somehow, someway, looking at it he smiled and laughed. It was normal.

Did demons like take out as much as the next human?

With the chopsticks awkwardly gripped - for Kano, Shippo, was not yet through teaching Kevin the art - he fed himself.

“You are saying it wasn't always like this. From what I know of Japanese history, of demonic legend -”

“Yes. Yes. Once, we were numerous. In those days people were weak and troubled. Disease, warfare. The world was chaotic and disordered. And in that environment we ruled. We were free. We did what we wanted when we wanted. But ever since humans got their acts together and became powerful in their own, particular way, we either adapted or risked getting wiped-out. We blended into the human world - as much as possible - we cut off our ears, filed down our teeth. Built secret, hidden societies and whole, parallel cultures just underneath the surface. Now we are fewer than we used to be, but we are here. Always. We're good at hiding, detective, we've always been that way. We keep to ourselves for a lot of reasons, mostly, because we know people will not accept us.”

“But you're people too,” Kevin stammered

“No.” Koga shook his head, shut his eyes. “We look like you but we are not like you.”

“We're, like, a mutated type of human,” Kano interjected. “We're advanced. Genetically.”

Koga sneered: “To be related to that.”

Kano stared at Koga - to Kevin it was obvious that much was left unsaid between them. Most of it angry.

Kano continued: “It's possible for humans and demons to mate. And, over time, there used to be people of mixed heritage.” It was then that he looked at that mysterious figure upon the mat - the man who was watching and listening. And keeping very quiet as he studied the human. “Some of us have been known to have relationships with humans. Love is love.”

“And that's why we're here.” Koga said, crossing his arms. He looked smugly but at no body.

Ginta and Hakkaku gulped and looked at each other.

Kevin could not help but look at that duo and feel a great sense of comfort. For if demons they were they were not menacing. They seemed to be very much normal and - despite that punk appearance - non-threatening. Even Koga was not inhuman.

“Indeed. I could've been told all of this many different ways. You didn't have to knock me out just to talk history. And I'm sure there's got to be a reason why demons would be wanting a human around, anyway.”

“Very good, detective, very good.”

“You are here because we need each other,” another gruff voice spoke up. It was the figure upon the mat who suddenly sat up straight like a man

“You must be that Inuyasha,” Kev said and the figure nodded. “Alright, alright.”

“You're investigating a series of murders. Of teenage school girls.” He breathed - deeply - and paused. “I saw you on the TV - and I know he did too. I know he's responsible.”

“He? You know who's killing the girls?” he asked very interested.

“No, not who's killing the girls - I don't know who's doing that yet - but I know who's pulling the killer's strings.”

“I see.” He rubbed his chin and sat back. “The killer is being control. Like, say, he's a hired-killer?”

“More or less. What I'm going to tell you, Detective Markus, will not be easy for you to hear but you must believe it. All of it. Five hundred years ago there lived a man named Onigumo. He was a thief and a lowlife. At the end of his life he suffered a horrific injury - a burn that covered all of his body - when he felt there was nothing to lose, he made a pact with demons. He allowed them to devour his body and in return their souls would be blended into one whole, one entire being. What emerged out of that union was a creature called Naraku.”

“Naraku?” Kev looked at Kano, at Koga.

“Onigumo was driven by the lust of power. Only Naraku achieved it. He wanted an artifact called the Shikon no Tama. At that time every human and every demon wanted that jewel. I wanted it too.” Here Inuyasha paused and bit his lip. He looked at the floor, at something within the pattern of the rug, at something invisible to the world but not to him. “I will not go into that history. It does not matter. What does matter is that the jewel was fragmented and dispersed throughout the world. Naraku gathered almost all of the fragments - almost all except one - and through the centuries he amassed enormous power.”

The detective nodded and leaned back. He wished for a notebook and a pen - for his benefit, not for the world's. He did not imagine he would be believed. Indeed, if it were not for Kano he was not sure he would be believing it, either.

“He's able to devour demons and gain their powers. He grows stronger all of the time. And every time he does his body changes. He reworks it, rejecting those parts that are not good enough, not strong enough. He barely looks like a man now. Most of his body's a mess of things. A bunch of different disconnected parts.

“It's not just because humans won't accept demons that we live in the shadows, it's also because of Naraku. Over the demonic world he exerts extreme power. He keeps it enslaved by the threat of blackmail and extortion. And the fear that he'll expose it. It took demons a long time to learn to live together. They've built lives and they don't want to lose that.

“And don't think you are safe, detective, realms of human power are also under his control. He exists to create trouble for everybody, pitting one side against the other. He's an evil force, a mastermind hatching plots to remove his competitors and cement his influence.”

“And what does that have to do with the deaths of those young girls?”

“There's a girl. Naraku wants her dead. He wants her dead for personal reasons. It's a vendetta against me. He only knows part of her name and her description. He does not know when and where she lives. He has hired a man, I do not know who yet, to scour the city looking for girls matching that description.”

“He kills them. And Naraku hopes that one of the victims will be the person he's after. But, can't he find a better way?”

“No. He maybe powerful in some senses but not in others. Most of us demons, even the wolf demons, can go out in public every now and then. But Naraku can't do that anymore. He's gained so much physical power by absorbing so many demons that his form's just too grotesque. He can't leave his lair; he's stuck there forever and is forced to rely on lackeys to do the dirty jobs. Not that he ever did the dirty jobs.”

“And this girl, who is she?”

“Can I trust you, Detective Markus?” Inuyasha stood, stashing his weapon into his belt. “I know - you find all of this hard to believe. It's hard to take, hard to swallow. But Shippo trusts you. And, maybe, because you love him, you'll see the truth behind what we're saying. But, can I trust you?” He approached the chair, semi-kneeling, eyeball to eyeball with Kev. He removed his cap.

Again, Kev blinked. He reached out, tentatively, and Inuyasha let the man touch his ears. His dog ears. The man felt them and their warmth, the pulse that throbbed within.

“It's real,” he uttered in English in amazement. “It's different but it's real.”

“Can I trust you?”

“I'm a cop, I'll need proof, but you can trust me. I'll do nothing that reveals this,” he said.

Inuyasha stood and drew back.

“You promise?”

Kano held Kev's hand: “Kevin-san, it's important.”

Nodding to his friend, looking at the wolf demons, at the strange, weird dog-like human-demon hybrid, he nodded: “I promise.”

“You'll learn her name when you'll need it.”

“But if you tell me now we can watch her.”

“I watch her.” He turned, folding his arms through his sleeves over his chest. “And no, Naraku sees and knows too much. He has eyes and ears in every human enterprise. You put a cop at her door he will know. We stay away. I, too, keep distant. If I get close - he can sense me, being a demon - and that'll give away her presence.”

“Hm,” he mused aloud - and sighed. What did they mean by power? Demonic power? Clearly, while he was being told a few things there was much about demons he was not being told. “Just what's your relationship with that girl? She's a human girl, right?”

Koga raised an eyebrow and grunted.

Kano sighed.

“It's complicated, Detective Markus.”

“OK. Complicated.” Now it was the detective's turn to cross his arms and sigh. “My job is to apprehend the killer. If you can get me rock solid information -”

“You will.” Inuyasha put his cap back atop his head. “But I need to know I can trust you. I don't know what Naraku knows. How far deep his influence goes.”

Kev nodded.

“I must warn you. You'll face grave danger just knowing what you know. Naraku's not beyond interfering with human lives. There's a woman you know, named Kaede, she's got a power in her right hand you may wish to see one of these days. Naraku cursed her family with that - wind tunnel - it kills the men when they grow old enough. And the women, too, have it.”

That right hand, that gloved right hand.

After the talk ended Inuyasha returned to the mat; he faced the floor deep in thought and meditation. Koga and his group excused themselves to take care of business `upstairs.' Meanwhile the sound of the music returned, accompanied by the banter of crowds muffled and distorted by distance.

Kev stood and sighed - he felt Kano's hand grasp his hand and he squeezed. He looked upon the chair and the carton of rice that lay atop it - it was empty but for the chopsticks within it. He stared and felt Kano's arms hug him - and, turning to face the demon, he hugged his friend back, long and tight.

“I believe what you want me to believe, Shippo,” the name hesitated through his lips at it was not familiar. “But I must be allowed to see and know things for myself.”

Kano, Shippo, nodded and rested his face against Kev's shoulder.

“Just tell me you don't hate me.”

“I don't hate you, Shippo. I can't hate you. All of this explains a lot, doesn't it? It makes sense to me.” He rubbed against Kano's ear - and Kano let him feel the roughness of the scar. “It must have been difficult. And I can't pretend I know what that must have been like. But I think I understand that need to blend into the world, Shippo.”

The music stopped and for a moment a thick, dense blanket of silence fell upon the chamber.

Kev and Kano walked toward the entryway at the leftmost wall - the man yawned and the demon put a hand against the back of his head, patting its clean, shaven skin.

“You cut your ears,” he said, softly, looking at his friend.

“Yes,” he confessed. “And my tail, too. I was a fox-demon, with a tail.”

He leaned the side of head onto his friend's head - his movements were slowing, retarding as the oxygen was sucked out of the air

“I'm happy you trust me. Shippo,” his voice was weak. “I don't judge you, Shippo. Whatever you thought I wouldn't accept, I do. Whatever you thought I'd fear, I don't. I love you. I love you. I -”

Without waiting another instant Kano interrupted the human with a kiss. A shoulder-hug. He laughed and leaned his head against the man's face. “You make my heart skip a beat,” he spoke through an excited whisper. “There are things about this business, the girl, the jewel shards, things we can't even begin to tell you about. But in time you'll see and learn all about it. And I'll help you understand. I'll guide you through this world, if you want me to.”

Kev smiled, feeling suddenly very light. He said - something - but he could not recall if he said anything remotely coherent.

“You're in danger but I know you'll get to the bottom of this. I trust you completely.”

“Shippo, I -”

Again, the second time that eventful night, the world succumbed into the oblivious void of darkness and shadow for Detective Kevin Markus.